The London bureau chief of US broadcaster ABC today denied that one of its former correspondents had been fired for refusing to go to Iraq.

Marcus Wilford said Richard Gizbert, who is claiming £2.3m for unfair dismissal, had never even been asked to go to the war-torn territory.

"I am clear that I did not ask Richard to go there. There would have been no point," Mr Wilford told a London tribunal. "It is extremely unlikely he was asked to go to Iraq by anyone else in the bureau.

"I really don't think we would ever consider not going to Iraq as a reason for firing someone. It just wouldn't happen. And it hasn't happened."

Mr Wilford acknowledged that Iraq was the most dangerous place in modern history to report from. He said ABC had not lost any of its western staff there, but that a freelance Iraqi cameraman had been killed in Fallujah.

He described how in 2003 he was attacked by armed men while driving in a convoy to Baghdad. "We have had some very close shaves," he said.

Mr Wilford also said that every ABC correspondent who had been asked to go to Iraq had at some point said no. "It is a really dangerous place and we cannot assume that everyone will go there," he told the tribunal.

Gizbert, who had worked for ABC News for 11 years, launched a £2.3m claim for unfair dismissal on Friday. He believes his case has wide-ranging implications for other journalists.

The journalist, who has worked in Chechnya, Bosnia and Rwanda, told ABC News in 2002 that he no longer wanted to cover dangerous areas. The network agreed to guarantee him 100 days' freelance work a year and the freedom not to work in war zones. But in July 2004 it failed to renew his contract, citing budget cuts.

Former BBC correspondent Martin Bell is expected to appear as an expert witness for Gizbert later this week. The case continues.